Sinclair buys Fox regional sports networks from Disney for $9.6bn

Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. – a US-based company in Maryland – completed a $9.6bn acquisition of 21 of Fox regional sports networks on Friday.

The new ownership now includes popular channels including Fox Sports West, Prime Ticket and Fox Sports San Diego.

Sinclair and Walt Disney Co. announced the completion of the transaction, which included the Fox College Sports channel.

Disney had acquired the channels as part of its $71.3bn purchase of much of Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox.

However, because Disney already owned ESPN, antitrust regulators at the US Department of Justice ruled that it could not keep the Fox sports channels and gave Disney 90 days after the Fox deal closed to unload them.

Sinclair won the tepid auction for the channels in May.

On Friday, Sinclair did not immediately say how it intends to rebrand the regional sports networks, known as RSNs.

The channels will substantially boost Sinclair’s business, which consists of 191 TV stations, primarily network affiliates, and the boutique Tennis Channel. The RSNs have lucrative rights to 42 professional teams, including top National Basketball Assn., National Hockey League and Major League Baseball teams.

“We are very excited about the transformational aspects the RSN acquisition will have on Sinclair and are eager to bring those opportunities to life, “ Chris Ripley, chief executive of Sinclair, said in a statement. “We welcome Jeff Krolik, president of the RSNs, and the rest of the RSN management team and staff to the Sinclair family.”

The 21 regional channels were purchased by a subsidiary of Sinclair called the Diamond Sports Group, which includes Los Angeles media mogul Byron Allen as an equity and content partner. Allen, the founder of Entertainment Studios, purchased the Weather Channel last year.